CH 74

Tournament Practice

In preparation for the competition, the knight department’s general and special courses were to come together for several joint practice sessions. It was necessary for all the students to meet in order to group them by their grades. There, they would discuss their own strategy for the team competition.

Sheila and the other fourth-year students were having a meeting in their circle.

There were 20 people participating in the pole toppling competition. They had to start with the selection of the team members. The team had to make all the decisions during the few times they had to practice together, so it was quite a busy time.

“Let’s start by figuring out a winning strategy for the pole toppling.”

“No… You, are you sure you want to join us?”

There was a good reason for Hyderion’s concern. Sheila glanced backward.

‘…. Somehow, I feel a heated gaze from behind me.’

Since a little while ago, someone had been looking at Sheila feverishly as she sat holding her knees. Thanks to that, not only Sheila, but the entire fourth graders couldn’t concentrate at all.

She followed the gaze and saw Leidyrune watching the fourth-grade group, ignoring his own group discussion.

“Of all things, Leidyrune-senpai is eyeing you… What the hell did you do?”

When asked by her classmate Toldrid, Sheila could only reply with a wry smile. No matter how much she thought about it, there was only one reason.

‘Maybe it wasn’t a good idea after all that I tried to run away at that time…’

While Sheila was preoccupied, her classmates calmly proceeded with their discussion.

“You shouldn’t ask too many questions, Toldrid. If he keeps running away, it means he’d committed some crime.”

“But Hyderion, if we don’t know what the problem is, it won’t be a good lesson for the rest of us.”

“Sometimes it’s better not to know. If you know the truth, you could be at a disadvantage if it becomes a problem later on.”

“Hey, I didn’t do anything that criminal-like….”

Sheila retorted at Toldrid and Hyderion’s rude exchanges, but she lost her confidence after saying that.

Identity fraud. Illegal admission.

If Sheila put all of her actions into words, it did indeed reek of crime.

She told Clauschezade that it was all good, but it might fall under the crime of treason.

“…. Huh, that does sound like a crime….?”

When Sheila tilted her head and muttered, a rustling sound echoed around her as people distanced themselves away from her. What a bunch of heartless schoolmates they were.

“I’m just kidding….. I hope.”

“The words you added are concerning, Sheila.”

Zechs pointed out as he scooted back with all his might.

In a cold sweat, Cody looked around at everyone with a wry smile.

“B-by the way, why don’t we try to practice right now? We don’t have much time.”

“…. You’re right. It’s none of our business.”

Hyderion unceremoniously cut off Sheila. It was too much. Where did the bond that had deepened during the on-field training go?

“Now let’s talk about our strategy. Those who aren’t knocked aside will run into the enemy who is protecting the pole. While they do so, those who are agile will take down the pole. It’s simple, but if Sheila is there, this is the strategy with the highest success rate…. if Sheila is there.”

“Hyderion, are you still stuck on that? If you care about everything this guy does, you can’t hold your own, can you?”

Zechs scratched his head. He was often pushed around by Sheila, but he was still somewhat adaptable to her.

Hyderion shook his head as he sighed.

“If Sheila is gone from the academy by the day of the competition, this strategy wouldn’t work.”

“You’re terrible, Hyderion. Why are you thinking of the worst possible case?”

A situation where Sheila could no longer be at the academy. Was she expelled, or was her existence itself erased? Either way, it was tough to have a friend suggest such possibilities so nonchalantly.

He stared at her with half-lidded eyes, but he remained calm.

“If you’re in a position to make a successful strategy, you always have to assume the worst situation.”

“You’re terrible. Cold.”

“Whatever you say.”

“You’re mean, you idiot.”

“….. You have a very limited vocabulary of swear words.”

Hyderion gave her a look of pity, and Sheila clutched her chest. The one who was swearing was the one who suffered more damage, and the victim didn’t even suffer anything.

He sighed as he lamented over his friend’s lack of talent for swearing.

“…. We can’t quite live up to the Centrix family, but we are a count family, too. If something goes wrong, I’ll at least help you save your own life.”

It might sound like an exaggeration, but it was irreverent to even say that you would go against a Duke’s family. Hyderion, who had a sense of propriety, said that for her. It was quite hard to understand, but Sheila guessed it was his way of encouraging her.

“――Thank you, I’m counting on you.”

When Sheila smiled, Hyderion averted his light-colored eyes uncomfortably. His ears were red, as they had been during the training.

He blushed more and more as Sheila teased him. Hyderion glared at her for her unhelpful shenanigans. However, his face was so red that it didn’t scare her at all. Sheila giggled.

At that moment, Sheila felt a feeling similar to murderous intent and a chill ran through her. Hyderion also instinctively moved away from her.

He fearfully followed the painful gaze and saw Leidyrune. He shivered as Leidyrune stared at him with his icy gaze.

“…. Somehow, I think I know what caused it.”

As he muttered this, Hyderion moved further away from Sheila. Her entire being was cold from Leidyrune’s stare, but she had no friends to huddle with. It was too sad.

Cody, reading the air, returned to the topic, putting on a strained smile on his face.

“Alright, let’s go back to the strategy meeting. Sheila, can you jump over people?”

“Yeah, I can do it, with a little help.”

Right, Sheila needed to concentrate on the technique showcase competition.

Zechs, who was accustomed to such disturbances, quickly took over the conversation.

“The length of the pole is about three meters, right? I bet you could climb to the top of the pole.”

“Yeah. I remember that the pole is supported by people surrounding it, right? As long as I don’t get dragged down, I think I can use them as a springboard.”

The problem was that the people surrounding it were all enemies, so they won’t obediently become a foothold for Sheila. If they grabbed her legs and dragged her off, it might be difficult for her to try again because of the tussle.

“You need to have an ally in the area close enough to be a springboard. If it’s an ally, you’ll feel safe enough to use it as a foothold.”

“Yes, that’s right. In the meantime, do you want to try practicing to see if you can reach the pole?”

Sheila nodded to Hyderion’s words.

The role of the pole could be done with two people. However, with the threat of the Leidyrune close by, it seemed that people were beginning to feel that it wasn’t a good idea to get close to Sheila, and no one wanted to play that role. Since there was no choice, Zechs decided to put Cody on his shoulder. Hyderion reluctantly took on the role of being the springboard.

Once the preparations were complete, Sheila started running up from a distance. As she picked up speed, she suddenly leaped up from the ground hard.

At the light leap, voices of admiration leaked out from those who were watching. Sheila’s legs were so light that she didn’t even feel her weight in the air. Her feet easily reached Hyderion’s shoulders.

She continued to step forward and aimed at Cody, who was even higher up.

Even though the foothold was unstable, it wasn’t difficult for Sheila, who was accustomed to hiking in the mountains. She put her hand on Cody’s right shoulder, and then her knee on his left shoulder. She strained her abdominal muscles and lifted herself up.

“All right…!”

From a sitting position, she stood up using Cody’s shoulder as a platform. Cody and Zechs were already tall enough, so standing atop the two of them was quite high.

“I got it!”

“Great job, Sheila!”

“You’re a real wild monkey!”

Not only Cody and Hyderion, but students from other grades were also looking at Sheila in amazement.

“Hey! It’s time to get off, you’re heavy!”

Zechs shouted, not able to hold on any longer.

“Sorry, sorry.”

Just as she bent down to get off in a hurry, a gust of wind blew in her direction. Sheila’s body swayed and tilted.

“?!”

She immediately tried to adjust her position. With her excellent aerial sense, Sheila should have been able to fold her body and land on the ground effortlessly. ――Unless something unexpected happened.

Sheila wasn’t the only one who was swayed by the gust of wind. As she fell, she saw Cody had been knocked out of his position too.

‘It’s dangerous…!’

At this rate, Sheila would fall with Cody. She didn’t know which of them would be on the bottom, but the one underneath would probably be seriously injured.

Sheila immediately kicked Cody’s body lightly in the opposite direction.

Cody’s footing was stabilized. However, that caused her to fail to adjust her position properly.

Sheila was slammed to the ground in a state where she was barely able to shield herself.